One of the things that myself, Paul Brennan and Graham Spiers discussed last night was Brendan Rodgers’ comment, made in the fan press conference, about wanting more “power” in the team. All three of us concluded that this was an acknowledgement that we need a little more physicality in certain areas of the pitch, and it was music to my ears.
Paul Brennan offered an interesting piece of information; Celtic is confident that we will retain most of our squad because English clubs don’t see our lightweight players as capable of competing in the rough and tumble of their top flight.
Rodgers, as an EPL boss, understands that, and he also knows that if we’re going to be competitive in Europe we need to add some strength and physicality to the side.
Today we’re closing in on the second of our summer signings, the Australian winger Marco Tillio; he’s 5’7 and so doesn’t fit the profile of the “powerful” player.
What Rodgers is doing right now is working his way through Ange’s target list; that’s understandable. He will not sign anyone he does not want, but nor will he reject good players simply because they don’t tick every box.
He knows if we lose key players they need to be replaced.
But once this man turns his attention towards the type of players he wants, we’re going to see something very different start to develop. I think many of Rodgers signings are going to take the team in that new direction, and toughen us up.
We don’t yet know what this team is going to look like by the time the next campaign starts, but the start has been good and Rodgers’ promise to buy “power” only makes me more convinced that this rebuild is going to be pretty special.
We’re on the brink of signing number two, and both players are highly skilled … but it’s the combination of skill and that power that will make us more credible in Europe. There’s a long way to go this summer … this is just the beginning.
The Graham Spiers podcast can be found at Press Box hosted by Graham Spiers
It is well worth the time and attention of every Scottish football fan, and in terms of our own club he’s done some exceptional interviews, which no fan should miss.
Totally agree James delighted to hear about us adding power. Brennan unfortunately doesn’t have a scooby however. Us getting Brendan back was “just noise” according to him. And he obviously has no idea what EPL managers or directors of football want. Not every single player down there is a powerhouse. There will be plenty interest in our players so let’s not kid ourselves.
I was surprised about PB refusing to acknowledge on CQN that Brendan was coming back. You’re wrong to say he doesn’t have a scooby. But I hust can’t fathom why he wasn’t accepting of a blatantly obvious fact till something like the Wednesday or Thursday before it was announced!
Would also agree James that I don’t think that we will lose as many players as some were fearing.
We will remain a club that will always have a fairly high turnaround in players, but far better structured in the players been bought in, than the project hoping to come good policy that was in place for way to long.
Even though that policy did bring success in value, far to many failures to claim the policy was an overall success.
Thankfully now we seem to be targeting players who should fit in far easier into the style of play the manager chooses to adopt, with the backing of a board, along with flexibility within the playing squad.
Think next season we should have a far greater choice within numbers of the squad, where we looked a bit light at times last season when injuries started to impact ourselves and performances dipping somewhat?
Great to hear Rodgers was still taking an interest into how we were playing, so already knows the improvements he wants within the squad.
To get strong competition for squad places for next season CL is very welcome, along with a few with the following seasons campaign in mind.
Squad sizes will need to increase in future, especially with increased games within European competition so believe that prospect is already been well addressed at present, and having a stake within that Austrian club will also help the process of development also, which is very much needed for our Scottish younger players.
We may attract a few players with a more physical presence, but still believe a player with a fast attacking flair about them with quality will still be a more of the type of player we will be looking for in an attacking sence.
Will remain interesting to see who we will bring in defensively?
And could offer us a better indication of how Rodgers will set the team up, as our fast attacking play should remain intact and could well be improved upon with more and better options available.
If Brenden Rogers is looking to add both height and fisicallity to the Celtic line up then it’s a long time coming. Celtic have been lightweight for a few seasons now and when Georgios Giamaukas was sold it left us with fewer options, especially up front. If Celtic are serious about making a challenge in the Champions league, we will need to have a bigger presence about us. Martin O’Neil proved that in Europe